Romney at State Would Be Disastrous

Vice President-elect Mike Pence confirmed Sunday that Romney is under “active consideration” for secretary of state.

“The President-elect was very grateful that Gov. Mitt Romney came in. They had a good meeting. It was a warm and substantive exchange. I know he is under active consideration to be secretary of state of the United States along with some other distinguished Americans,” Pence said on “Fox News Sunday.”

I doubt that Romney would take the job, and it seems unlikely that Trump would offer it to him. This seems to be more of an effort at repairing intra-party divisions by extending an olive branch to one of the most vocal anti-Trump Republicans. Nonetheless, it is worth saying a few things about the prospect of having Romney in Trump’s Cabinet.

Putting Romney at State would be a poor choice on the merits, though it would certainly be no worse than picking Giuliani. Like Giuliani, Romney has no foreign policy experience to speak of, and he has consistently derided every effort at diplomatic engagement over the last eight years. I can think of few other top positions in government for which Romney is more poorly-suited. Unless Romney completely reinvented himself once again, his foreign policy views would be just as bad as Bolton’s or Giuliani’s, and I have a hard time believing that a Romney-led State Department would pursue improved ties with Russia. Romney would bring with him everything that was and is wrong with conventional Republican foreign policy, and he would presumably be an advocate for all of the confrontational policies that he supported during his last presidential campaign. Neither would be good for U.S. foreign policy. If the choice really is down to Giuliani or Romney, the next administration will have a very aggressive and hawkish Secretary of State, and there will be no point in pretending otherwise.

21 Responses to Romney at State Would Be Disastrous

Yeah. As I said in my last post, he is being lauded, universally, on every cable news program for ‘his prediction’ about Russia. After he made his prediction, Russia helped us with the Iranian nuclear agreement and to disarm Syria’s deadly stockpile of chemical nerve agents.

The one questionable thing they did was react to Maidan by protecting their military presence in Crimea which they have maintained since the 1700’s. This branded them revanchist, for us, that would be Tuesday.

+1 for Viriato’s take. Romney wouldn’t be a “good” SOS in the cosmic scheme of things, but I have a very hard time imagining him being nearly as bad as Giuliani or Bolton, both of whom appear to be mentally unhinged to some degree these days. (Also, I suspect Romney would be at least somewhat better on human rights issues due to his LDS background.)

Treasury Secretary seems like a more logical position for Romney, if any was to be had.

Here’s my main worry about Romney as sec of state. My impression of Romney is that he’s at bottom a kindly and decent man, who is nonetheless consumed by a desire to make himself accepted by the in-crowd. His plea that he was “severely conservative,” his over-the-top cartoonish version of conservatism expressed in his “47%” comments… these suggest a man who is just trying too hard. In the foreign policy realm, the “in-crowd” is clearly the interventionist FP establishment. I’m afraid that when the first crisis with Russia or whomever arises, Romney will be gripped by a compulsion to prove that he’s “severely tough” and risks consequently overreacting to events. He will similarly be cowed into taking the most hardline imaginable pro-Israel policy. I don’t see him showing any capacity for bravery or independence as sec of state.

Given the names that have been floated so far, isn’t the real criterion less a matter of “how good is s/he“, and more one of “who’s the least disastrous“? If the bar is set by Bolton or Giuliani, almost everyone outside of Mobuto Sese Seko clears it, no? Hell, by that standard Romney looks pretty good.

I can’t remember where I read this to give proper credit, but it’s a good meme:

Trump is going to drain the swamp by throwing in alligators (I guess that means he’s going to spread the swamp water to surrounding areas and hope that the evaporation of the swamp water doesn’t spread too many diseases).

My opinion may be outside the norm but Trump doesn’t pick people who are incompetent, cant get the job done and that he doesn’t trust to run with the vision.
That said, should Romney be chosen, I don’t see Romney being let loose and Trump to be completely ignorant of Romney’s doings as Obama claimed to be of Hillary. I think Trump will set the direction at times with bold controversial and inflammatory statements…and Romney (like Pence) will be there with a fresh amiable face that sells Trump by explaining the intent is actually reasonable even if said in a boorish manner. I don’t see Trump turning over foreign policy to Romney…I think Trump will be very much involved…and Romney would very much be managed like in corporate America.

I don’t believe that we went through 2012 election without enough voters to win and then through this election to have Romney given a Cabinet position. That would smack of elite interference. Ultimately, the Trump constituency would break up and the mid terms would be disastrous – I think it is that simple. It is good to talk with and make peace with those who tried to demean you and talk ill of you and especially the people who supported Trump, but to put them in a cabinet position would be the ultimate affront to supporters. Romney and others are not stupid and surely wouldn’t want to be divisive or think they could manipulate Trump somehow. And they are not stupid in that they may have some views worth hearing. But, i think the voters were pretty clear. Anyone representing the establishment – Romney, the SC gov, – not wise. I feel pretty confident that if they were nominated then Trump loses the constituency.

Looking at the Trump tax & “infrastructure” schemes is a walk through memory lane. It’s the exact same “shovel breaks to those who need it least” rubbish that Republicans have been pushing my entire life. (One minor different — the shovel is now going to be a front-end loader.)

Yeah, Trump’s all about slapping down elites, you bet!

Watching the cognitive dissonance develop among Trump cultists is going to be hilarious.

“Watching the cognitive dissonance develop among Trump cultists is going to be hilarious.”

I don’t think there will be any cognitive dissonance, because the people who got him elected won’t hang around if he changes his position. Right now the media and Establishment are getting to him. Put in Romney and a Constitutional Convention is all but guaranteed.

He focuses on what he promised then he lives up to his word – not his nuanced word, but his word. Right now it is clear that people are trying to manipulate him. How far he lets that go is a real test of who he is and what kind of President he will be. the people who elected aren’t playing games. They are serious about saving this country.

What a poor choice, he wanted Hillary Clinton to be President and tried to sabotage his Campaign. Not Loyal enough to be US Secretary of State. Oh wait, Loyalty to this government is underrated lately in that position. Come on Mr. President, you can’t trust this loser!

I don’t think that Romney is an idiot by any means, I just think he has an agenda that is part and parcel of the same old logic. But I can’t imagine those egos getting along very well with one or the other in charge anyway!